To risk stating the utmost obvious, children are
young at heart. They love to run, jump and play with
one another. Very frequently their play involves close
contact with other children. Jungle-gyms, slides,
swings and sandboxes- what child would pass up the
opportunity at a chance to play with their peers on
any of these common, and public, toys. You guessed
it - almost none. Sadly wart removal in children under
the age of 6 is much more limited.
Herein lies the problem. Since children are in such
close proximity with one another warts can spread,
or be contracted, with much greater ease than in adults.
To compound this problem the options of wart
removal in children are much more limited compared
to the vast array of treatments and wart removal plans
for adults.
Children are more likely to get warts:
A few things play part in this.
Firstly children have a less mature immune system and are unable to resist HPV as effectively as older people with a more matured immune system.
Secondly kids frequent public areas much more often than adults. Schools are a good first example. Some schools have thousands of children who attend them, other schools perhaps do not have as many pupils, however this only lowers the risk of the spread of warts.
Physical education (Gym Class) is very common in a lot of schools. Locker rooms need to be used by all children in the school in order to change their clothes accordingly. This is a big problem. Walking barefoot in a locker room, or any moist floor, has been cited as the leading cause of plantar warts (foot warts).
Sandboxes in parks or playgrounds are also hugely responsible for the spread of many different types of warts.
Steps that can be taken to protect your child
To help reduce the chances of you or your child contracting or spreading warts, there are a few simple procedures which should be followed.
• Never walk barefoot in a public area, always wear shoes, sandals or flip flops.
• Try and avoid contact with warts at all costs.
• If your child has warts, consider covering the wart with a bandage.
• Do not allow your children to play in sandboxes.
• Never pick at any warts. This could spread the virus to others, or create more on the same individual.
• Never bite fingernails if you have warts near the fingernail or on the fingers.
• Warts thrive in moist environments; keep your hands as dry as possible.
• After touching your warts, wash your hands thoroughly to avoid spread.
Resources:
http://hcd2.bupa.co.uk/
http://health.yahoo.com/
